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Take precautions if you put fishing season on ice

By Dennis Smith

Posted:
01/17/2018 11:46:00 AM MST

As the sun rises over Loveland, almost 800 ice-fishing enthusiasts huddle around holes in the ice of Boyd Lake on Saturday morning, Jan. 7, 2017, during the Ice Addiction fishing tournament. This year's competition, scheduled Jan. 20, had to be moved to Eleven Mile State Park due to ice conditions at Boyd Lake. (Craig Young / Loveland Reporter-Herald file photo)

The thing to keep in mind about ice fishing, apart from it being lots of fun in a mildly moronic, masochistic way, is that it's entirely possible to fall through the ice and experience, at the very least, a sudden blast of icy water so shockingly cold that it renders you stunned, and gasping like beached carp. Never mind the unwelcome thought you might actually die kicking and thrashing in panic beneath the ice unless someone pulls you from the icy depths.

OK, maybe that's a bit melodramatic, but it does happen every now and then.

It's usually best to stay out of freezing water — although, there are people out there who deliberately charge half-naked into the stuff in the dead of winter for the sheer joy of it. They're even crazier than ice fishermen if you ask me. Besides, they run into the water, shriek violently once or twice, then turn and run safely back to shore where a crew of other polar plunge-nuts wrap them in warm blankets and haul them off to a nearby sauna to lounge about while waiting for their skin to turn from blue to pink again. Talk about moronic.

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Assuming you'd rather walk on frozen water than immerse yourself in it, there are several measures you can take to assure you stay safely on top of the ice. For example, when exploring a new ice fishing pond or lake, you should always send someone else out there to test the ice while you stand by on shore with a throw rope, a cellphone and a thermos of hot coffee laced with a wee taste of Jameson's or Bailey's.

Sipping the hot coffee while your friend does a quick thickness test will ensure that you're warm, agile and ready to spring into action should he unexpectedly drop into the briny deep.

If he does go through, throw him the rescue rope the minute his head pops back up through the hole. Better yet, tie the rope to him before you send him on the mission. That way you won't have to worry about the Jameson's affecting your aim should you actually need to toss the rescue rope.

If he doesn't break through, that means the ice is probably safe, but ask him to jump up and down a few times out there just to make sure. If he seems reluctant, remind him you have some really tasty hot coffee waiting for him once he gets back to shore and dries off.

As a last resort, reassure him that, 1) you have 911 loaded on your cellphone's speed dial, and 2) the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority dive team is among the best in the world, and they could probably have him breathing on his own again within minutes of pulling him from the pond.

I'm kidding, of course. Be safe out there. Use the Farmer's Almanac ice thickness chart (www.almanac.com/content/ice-thickness-safety-chart) as a guideline before venturing out on any frozen body of water. Never go alone, always carry or wear safety gear — PFDs, throw ropes, hand spikes and crampons.

Especially crampons; because you're much more likely to fall on the ice than you are to fall through it.

Dennis Smith is a Loveland outdoors writer and photographer, and his freelance work is published nationally. Smith's Home Waters column appears on the first and third Thursdays of the month. He can be reached at Dsmith7136@msn.com.